Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

“It was good to walk into a library again; it smelled like home.” 📚❤️ @megbatsbooks and myself read The Historian a couple of months ago. It's a chonk at over 700 pages long 📖 and while I enjoyed it, it wasn't the easiest book to read. For me, the main issue was that there was no indication of which timeline we were reading or who was narrating. If you are a Dracula fan 🧛‍♂️ then you're definitely going to find this interesting. However, there is a lot of history and a lot of research topics in the story and, quite honestly, it would have been a lot more enjoyable (at least for me) if it was half the length with less waffle. 😂 I would have liked more from the daughter's point of view and how she followed her father across Eastern Europe, experiencing the strange phenomena that were taking place, rather than just getting a snippet here and there. 🗺️👀 I know that @megbatsbooks loved it though, and it was fun to read it with her because she picked up on way more thi...

“You are so full of rage for someone so small and cute.” 😂 Icebreaker was the second book choice for #thatbonkersbookclub for July and one I've been meaning to get around to for ages, so this was finally my chance! 📚🏒⛸️ I really enjoyed it — well, apart from Aaron, who is a narcissistic, gaslighting moron! 😤🙄 Honestly, I could have happily skated right over his arm! I loved the banter between Anastasia and Nate's teammates, once she finally realised that actually, yeah, she did like Nate just a little bit! 🥰 They opened their arms and gathered her into their little boy family with such affection, and it was so cute. 🥹💕 Icebreaker definitely focuses more on the figure skating than the hockey, which is a welcome breath of fresh air. Everything I seem to see these days is hockey, hockey, hockey! 🏒🏒🏒 Give me some figure skating! ⛸️✨ The spice — I can either take it or leave it, to be honest, but it will never not make me read a book! 😂🌶️ But yeah, it rarely leaves a l...

“In the back of his car, I could hear his kids wailing. They weren't crying because of the initial impact, which had only woken them up, but because they'd just watched, from five metres away, as Bambi got atomised by an ambulance.” 🦌💥🚑 Now, I used to work for the NHS, so I know what a s**t show it has become, but Steve's book has just opened my eyes even further. I had no idea that ambulances were queuing — for hours — with a patient on board, just waiting to get into A&E. And who knows how many more hours they would then have to wait until they actually saw a medic. 😳🚑⏰ I loved Steve's insider view. His humour is second to none 😂, and I admire him for maintaining his sometimes warped sense of humour through what must have been thousands of frustrating, and frankly scary, moments as he tried to do his job. 🚑😬 I really appreciated the raw and honest account of his career as a paramedic, and the barriers that are thrown up by the lack of funding, staff cuts a...

“The lights went out in the carriage, and when they came back on, the man was looking at me...” 👀 The Stranger at the Wedding has been sitting on my shelf for a while, so I chose to read it for the #NeglectedFaithfulsReadingChallenge for June. 📚 I've been pondering this review for a while, and I'm still unsure how I feel about the book. I enjoyed it, honestly I did, but the multiple timelines and points of view were extremely confusing – and this is coming from someone who loves both of these! 😵‍💫 It would have helped if there had been some indication of whose point of view we were reading from and what year we were in! Anyway, that aside, apart from having to really concentrate on the story, I did enjoy it. It was packed with twists and turns that I just didn't see coming, and very definitely had many unlikeable, dodgy and narcissistic characters! 😬 The ending tied it all up nicely, even if it was fast and unexpected. 🔀 Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for the gift...

“There’s only so much oxygen on an airplane. I don’t want his ego to suffocate the rest of us. You know, safety and all that s**t.” #thatbonkersbookclub, for some reason, decided to read three books in July and Mile High was the first one I read. Now, I wouldn't consider myself a sports romance fanatic. I can take them or leave them, to be honest, and so I went into this one with no expectations or particular interest. It just goes to show that book clubs can open your eyes to things you wouldn't normally read! 📚 I enjoyed Mile High and listened to this rather than read it, which probably made it even more fun. The dual narration of the two main characters, Zanders and Stevie, was brilliantly portrayed and even though Zanders is initially an arrogant d**k, there's a reason for that. I guarantee that if you read the book, you'll come to love him, as of course, Stevie does. ❤️ While writing this review, I discovered that the author, Liz Tomforde, used to be a flight att...

 "I didn't trust anything anymore, except for Dynamo." I finally got around to listening to the first book for June's #LetsEarItAudiobookChallenge and I'm addicted! 🎧🐴 I was always a horsey person growing up and, instead of posters of pop stars and actors on my bedroom wall, I had posters of eventers, showjumpers and horses! Yep, I was one of those weird kids! 😂🐎 Ambition  threw me right back to the days when I would spend dawn to dusk at my grandparents' farm with the horses. 🥰 I am now thoroughly invested in Jules and Dynamo, along with the other horses in her stable. As I listened, I could hear every whinny, experience every nicker and imagine that soft, velvety muzzle just nestling on my shoulder. 🐴❤️ I was interested to read about the struggles of eventing life in Florida, how they manage the heat, the sudden changes in weather and the hurricanes. It's such a different scenario to the UK, where we can pretty much ride all year round and at most ...

“The ocean is big enough to take your grief and keep it safe for you, freeing up space in your heart for other things.” Told between the dual timelines of 1941 and 2011, The Storyteller of Casablanca features two female main characters. Josie, in 1941, is twelve years old. She is strong, feisty and determined to make the most of her unexpected time in Casablanca. Zoe, on the other hand, is completely out of her depth. She's struggling with her new surroundings, a baby daughter and no friends, and seems much happier behind the closed doors of her home. 🏡💕 I love any dual timeline novel, but it fast becomes a favourite if one timeline is during the Second World War. ❤️📖 I relished the author's insights into the sights, sounds and smells of Morocco. With the muezzin's call to prayer echoing across the city in the early morning and the fragrant smells as restaurants and homes begin cooking for the day, I found myself fully immersed in the lives of our two protagonists. 🇲🇦✨...

“Good will always battle evil,” he said. “Light will always fight the dark. In those moments, you’ll learn who you truly are.” ✨ OMG, I love this series. ❤️ Rites of the Starling was our Sequel Shelf pick for June for #thatbonkersbookclub, but I listened to it the week it was released—I just couldn't wait! I'd had it reserved on Libby for months. 🎧📚 I had absolutely no idea what was going on. 😂 I couldn't work out whether the two stories were dual timelines or running simultaneously, which, for me, made the story even more addictive. And no... I didn't guess! Every reveal came as a complete surprise. 🤯 Everything clicked into place in the end, but honestly, trying to figure it out was half the fun. The multiple storylines and narrators were incredible, and all three narrators brought so much passion to the story. ❤️ So many questions were answered, but even more have appeared—or are still complete mysteries. I loved the politics, the romance, the battles, and of cou...